1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of disposable lighters. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of fuel lighters having an improved child safety strike wheel assembly for preventing children from igniting the lighter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Specifically, conventional disposable and non-disposable fuel lighters are well known in the art. It is known that small children love to play with fuel lighters, thereby resulting in burns or even fires. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate a safety feature with conventional fuel lighters to make them more difficult to ignite by children.
The following four (4) prior art patents are found to be pertinent to the field of the present invention:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,773 issued to Lloveras Capilla on Feb. 13, 1996 for xe2x80x9cPocket Lighterxe2x80x9d (hereafter the xe2x80x9cLloveras Capilla Patentxe2x80x9d);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,625 issued to Sher on Jun. 23, 1998 for xe2x80x9cSafety Lighter With Smooth Striker Wheel Edgesxe2x80x9d (hereafter the xe2x80x9cSher Patentxe2x80x9d);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,727 issued to Potskhishvili et al. on Apr. 25, 2000 for xe2x80x9cGas Lighter With Safety Devicexe2x80x9d (hereafter xe2x80x9cthe ""727 Potskhishvili Patentxe2x80x9d); and
4. U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,709 issued to Potskhishvili et al. on Aug. 14, 2001 for xe2x80x9cGas Lighter With Safety Devicexe2x80x9d (hereafter xe2x80x9cthe ""709 Potskhishvili Patentxe2x80x9d).
The Lloveras Capilla Patent discloses a pocket lighter. It includes a spark wheel which produces sparks and movable between a first position in which it is blocked from rotating in the first direction. The wheel urges towards the first position when being actuated to rotate in the first direction and a second position in which it is adapted to rotate in the first direction and produces sparks directed towards the valve.
The Sher Patent discloses a safety lighter with smooth striker wheel edges. It includes a striker wheel which rotates about an axis in response to force applied to the wheel by a user""s finger. The annular recessed center portion of the striker wheel""s outer annular surface has protuberances formed thereon, while the annular unrecessed lateral portions of the striker wheel""s outer annular surface are smooth. The striker wheel is mounted to the lighter in slots which allow translation of the striker wheel toward and away from the lighters""s flint. The striker wheel is pressed from a first portion having insufficient spring force to cause the lighter flint to spark when the striker wheel is rotated into a second position having sufficient spring force to cause the lighter flint to spark when the striker wheel is rotated.
The ""727 Potskhishvili Patent discloses a gas lighter with a safety device. It includes a gas ignition which has a gearwheel secured to a spigot and corrugated wheels positioned on a shaft. The shaft has a central portion on which the gearwheel is positioned and which is formed as a polyhedron. The shaft is mounted within bracket openings so that it moves along a direction of the flint spring action. An opening of the gearwheel is polyhedral, whereby a maximum diameter of the shaft in the area of the gearwheel installation is less than a minimum diameter of the opening of the gearwheel spigot, whereby in the absence of a force on the corrugated wheels, a gap is formed between the gearwheel spigot and the support the size of which gap is less than the stroke of the shaft end portions within the bracket openings.
The ""709 Potskhishvili Patent discloses a gas lighter with a safety device. It includes a gas ignition device having a gear wheel freely and rotatably positioned on a shaft which is rotatably located in openings of body brackets and a flint spring pressed toward the gearwheel. When a finger pad acts on support wheels, a spark is prevented from being struck since the gearwheel will not rotate. In order to ignite the gas, it is necessary to slightly depress the support wheels so that a portion of the surface of the finger pad contacts the gearwheel, such that the gearwheel rotations and spark striking occur.
It is desirable to design and construct an improved safety lighter which includes an improved ignitor assembly which not only makes the safety lighter difficult to ignite and thereby reduces the injuries resulting from children playing with the lighters, but also easy to use and simple in construction and thereby minimizes the cost of manufacturing the safety lighters with the improved ignitor assembly.
The present invention is a safety fuel lighter with an improved ignitor assembly. The ignitor assembly comprises a striker wheel which rotates about an axis in response to force applied to the striker wheel by a user""s thumb or finger.
The ignitor assembly includes a striker wheel having an annular center portion, two opposite disposed outer annular portions sandwiching the center portion, and a transverse bore extending through the center portion and the two outer portions. An axle is positioned within the bore of the striker wheel, where the axle has a diameter which is smaller than the diameter of the bore. A mounting frame is attached on top of a fuel reservoir body and has a nozzle which is actuated by an actuating lever which is pivotally mounted on the mounting frame for releasing the fuel contained within the fuel reservoir body. The mounting frame has a spring receptacle and a pair of mounting holes for receiving the axle so that the striker wheel can move from a first position to a second position. A spring is received within the spring receptacle and positioned below a flint. The spring exerts a compressive force against the flint and forces the flint into contact with the striker wheel. The compressive force exerted by the spring being insufficient to cause the flint to generate sparks when the striker wheel is in the first position and rotated, and the compressive force exerted by the spring being sufficient to cause the flint to generate sparks when the striker wheel is in the second position and rotated.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety lighter with an improved ignitor assembly that is easily operated by an adult, but very difficult to use by a child.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a safety lighter with a strike wheel having a diameter which is larger than the diameter of an axle positioned therein so that the striker wheel can move from a first position to a second position, whereby when a spring exerts a compressive force against a flint and forces the flint into contact with the striker wheel, the compressive force exerted by the spring being insufficient to cause the flint to generate sparks when the striker wheel is in the first position and rotated, and the compressive force exerted by the spring being sufficient to cause the flint to generate sparks when the striker wheel is in the second position and rotated.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a safety lighter which is simple in construction, easy to use and low manufacturing cost.
Further novel features and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, discussion and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the drawings.